Spool construction



Jan. 26, 1943.

B. c. RCEHRL SPOOL CONSTRUCTION Filed March 22, 1940 BRUNO c. ROEHRL.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS I Patents 5. 26, i3.

General Aniline & 1F .11.. Corporation, Bingham'mton, N. YL, a corporation of Delaware Application March 22, 1M0, Serial No. 325,417

% iClaims.

The present invention is concerned with a novel form of spool construction, and more particularly with a spool construction in which the customary end flanges are axially adjustable with respect to the core.

The older forms of spool construction which involved a core member and rigid end flanges attached'thereto, suiiered from certain disacL vantages, particularly when such spools were used to hold photographic rollfllm. Such photographic rollfilm cartridges were ordinarily used for daylight loading in a suitable camera. However, it often happened that, either because of variations in the width of the film or in the spacing of the end flanges, the said flanges failed to press tightly against the edges of the film. Because of this looseness of engagement, it was possible for light rays to penetrate along the spool flanges and fog the edges 1 With these defects and disadvantages of the prior art in view, it is accordingly one object of my invention to provide a spool construction with at least one axially adjustable end flange.

A secondobject is to provide such a spool in which there are means for resisting axial separation of the spool flanges.

Another object is to provide such a spool, in

which the spool core and end flanges have cooperating portions for producing a coming ac tion which automatically resists such axial separation of the end flanges. I

A still'iurther object is to provide such a spool construction in which the automatic camming action is caused by the resiliency of the core portion of the spool. V

Additional objects and advantages 0! my invention will be apparent from the following specification. l This invention accordingly comprises the construction and arrangement, certain forms of which are shown in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 shows one form of film spool (partly in section) made according to the invention; Figure 2 is a. sectional viewon the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

. example metal) and may be formed in known ence to the attached drawing, wherein lure reference characters indicate like parts.

As shown in Figure 1, the film spool comprises I r a core portion it and suitable end flanges it;

The core it may advantageously be formed from a single sheet of material, which is bent around in the form of a cylinder or tube. The edges ii of the blank from which the core is formed will accordingly face each other, as shown in the drawing, and will be slightly spaced apart to form the sides of a slot is which may serve as one of the film anchoring openings of the spool. The blank may also be provided with an oppositely disposed slit which serves as the second customary film retaining opening.

"The flanges iii may have their outer edges rolled over as at ii? for the purpose of strengthening these flange portions. In the construction shown in Figure 1, these flanges M are stamped from a sheet of suitablematerial (for manner so as to provide a hub portion i6.

Figure 3 is a view (with the flange shown in section) of a. second form of spool construction made according to theinvention; and

Figures 4 to 6 areJsectional views of other modifications oiimy novel spool construction.

In order that those skilled in the art may fully understand the nature and scope of the present invention, the following detailed and concise de- The inner ends of this hub portion to are flared outwardly, as shown in the drawing, to form a. substantially cone-shaped cam surface or cam portion I1. Cooperating with this cam portion I1 is the corresponding cam portion it formed on the core member Hi. The camisurface is con'sists'of inwardly flared edges on this core, which form asecond cone-shaped cam portion cooperating with'the surface I! on the end flanges.

- In order to prevent relative rotary movement between the core and flanges, any suitable means may be provided. The spool of Figure 1, for

example, is formed with a lengthwise or axial slot 20 in the surface I! of the spool flange and r a struck-down tongue member l9 on the core portion, which fits in the slot 20 to prevent relative rotation of these two parts. .Thus when the core portion Ill is formed of resilient material which may be expanded or'contracted diametri cally, but which will tend to return to its original size because of the resiliency inherent in the material. Thus, in Figure 1, it will be obvious that, if some force is applied which tends to separate the end flanges. I 4 axially from each other, the cam surfaces II will act on the corre-l spending cam portions l8 to expand the central erating cam surfaces l1 and I8, such contraction of the core will draw the spool flanges axially toward each other and restore them to their original positions if permitted to do so.

In order to prevent expansion of the core ID to such an extent that the flanges could become completely disengaged from the core, I have provided means to limit such expansion. Thus the core may have a slot ll near one of the abutting edges II. The other edge carries on extending tongue 39, provided with-an upturned lug 40 extending into said slot.- The lug cooperates with the 'slot to limit the maximum expansion of the core l0. Thus there is no danger of accidental disengagement of the core and flanges Other suitable limiting means, equivalent to the foregoing, may obviously be provided.

In Figure 3, I have shown a second modification of my invention, in which the flanges 2| are formed from flat metal disks with an opening at the center, but with no substantial hub portion as in the construction of Figure l. The core member 22 in this second form of construction is again formed of resilient sheet material bent in the form of a cylinder or tube, but, in this case, the'flange 2| fits over the outside of the core 22 rather than within such core as in Fig. 1. The core is provided with suitable extensions 23 for engaging with any desired winding device. The core is fm-ther provided with the axially tapered cam portion 24' which, again, may be in the form of a. cone-shaped region. This cam area 24 fits within the central opening of the flange 2| and acts against the edges 25 of this inner opening in the flanges.

It will be apparent that, in this form of construction, an axial separation of the flanges 2| will cause the core to contract rather than to expand, as was the case in connection with Figure 1. This contraction of the core 22 is caused by the action of the inner flange surfaces 25 on the cam portions 24 of the core. Because of the re- 'silient nature of the core, this axial separation of the flanges 2| will be automatically resisted, and the core will tend to expand and draw the flanges together to their original positions.

In Figure 4, I have shown another form of construction in which the core I is identical with that shown in Figure 1 and is provided with the inwardly turned cone-shaped cam portions IS. The flange 26 is formed from the desired material and is provided with an inner hub portion 21 and acone-shaped cam surface 28. In this modification of my invention, however, the cam' surfaces 18 and 28 are formed at different angles with respect to the axis of the film spool. As a result, these cam surfaces do not touch each other throughout their length but make contact ata single point 29. It will be understood that, since the cam surfaces are substantially circular in cross-section, this point of contact 29 will really extend all around the cam surfaces in the nature ofa circle and will form a single line or edge-like contact. The advantage 'of this form of. construction is that the frictional resistance between. the twocam surfaces is greatly reduced so that the efilciency of the cammin action is increased. V

In Figure 5, another method of obtaining such a line contact" is shown. Here, again, the core single end flange could be made adjustable in this' H) with its inwardly formed cam surface' It is the same as the core of Figure 1. The flange 30, however, is formed of solid material and is integral with its central hub or bearing portion. Instead of providing this flange with an angular cam surface'as in the preceding cases. the portion of the flange adjacent the end of the core is cut back slightly as at 3| to leave a single projecting portion 32 in contact with the cam surface I8. Here again, the single line of contact between these two parts "core and flange serves to reduce friction and improve the efliciency of the spool.

In Figure 6, I have shown a spool made according to my invention, on which several turns of film or other sheet material have been wound. The core portion [0 with its cam surface I8 is the same as the core of Figure l. The flanges 33 are similarly provided with angular or coneshaped cam surfaces 34. In this figure, the film 35 which has been wound on the core portion, is of greater width than the normal spacing of the two end flanges 33 (of which only one is shown in the drawing). Because of the greater width of the film 35, there is a tendency to force the end flanges 33 apart to the position shown in heavy lines in the figure. This naturally, causes an expansion of the core portion ID, as shown in the drawing. Because of the resiliency of the core portion, however, and also because of the contracting force of the successive turns of film, there is a tendency to contract the core portion to its original position, and thereby move the end flange 33 back to its normal position, as shown in dotted lines at 3B and 31. This tendency to draw the spool flanges axially toward each other causes the flanges to be pressed tightly against the edges of the film 35 wound on the spool and thereby prevents any light, rays from penetrating along the spool flanges to the edges of the successive film layers. As explained above, such a close and light-tight fit is particularly desirable when the sheet material or film 35 is a lightsensitive photographic film.

It should be noted in connection with Figure 6 that, in the forms of construction where the cam surfaces of the core are on the outside of the cam surfaces of the flanges (Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6), the invention will be operative even though the core portion is not made of resilient mateurge the flanges toward each other and will bind them tightly against the edges of the film.

In general then, i't will be apparent that my' invention includes the broad idea of a film spool construction in which the end flanges are axially adjustable but tend to be restored automatically to their original relative position. Obviously a manner, while the other flange could be rigidly joined to the core portion, without departing from the basic principles of my invention. This invention is, therefore, not to be'limited in scope to the precise forms of construction shown in the drawing. but is to be interpreted as covering broadly all equivalent forms of construction ment of said flange while resisting axial separation of the flanges.

2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said head is located on said adjustableflange and the core is provided with said aperture.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said head is located on said core and said adjustable flange is provided with the aperture.

4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein means are provided on said core portion to limit the maximum expansion of said core portion.

BRUNO c. RoErmL; 

